John Thomas Duckworth

Sir John Thomas Duckworth, Bt
Vice-Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth by Sir William Beechey, 1810
Born	9 February 1748 Leatherhead, Surrey, England
Died	31 August 1817(1817-08-31) (aged 69) Plymouth naval base, England
Allegiance	Great Britain  United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1759–1817
Rank	Admiral of the Blue
Commands held	HMS Rover HMS Terrible HMS Yarmouth HMS Bristol HMS Bombay Castle HMS Princess Royal HMS Orion HMS Leviathan Leeward Islands Station Jamaica Station Mediterranean Fleet Governor of Newfoundland and Commander-in-Chief of the Newfoundland Squadron Plymouth Command
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War Battle of Quiberon Bay American War of Independence Battle of Grenada French Revolutionary Wars Glorious First of June Capture of Minorca (1798) Capture of St. Bartholomew and St. Martin Ferrol Expedition (1800) Blockade of Cadiz Napoleonic Wars Atlantic campaign of 1806 Battle of San Domingo Dardanelles Operation Alexandria expedition of 1807 Haitian Revolution War of 1812
Awards	Naval Gold Medal Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Swords of Honour from London and Jamaica

Leeward Islands Station
Jamaica Station
Mediterranean Fleet
Governor of Newfoundland and Commander-in-Chief of the Newfoundland Squadron

Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1st Baronet, GCB (9 February 1748 – 31 August 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy, serving during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as the Governor of Newfoundland during the War of 1812, and a member of the British House of Commons during his semi-retirement. Duckworth, a vicar's son, achieved much in a naval career that began at the age of 11.

Serving with most of the great names of the Royal Navy during the later 18th and early 19th centuries, he fought almost all of Britain's enemies on the seas at one time or another, including a Dardanelles operation that would be remembered a century later during the First World War. He was in command at the Battle of San Domingo, the last great fleet action of the Napoleonic Wars.

Born in Leatherhead, Surrey, England, Duckworth was one of five sons of Sarah Johnson and the vicar Henry Duckworth A.M. of Stoke Poges, County of Buckinghamshire. The Duckworths were descended from a landed family, with Henry later being installed as Canon of Windsor. John Duckworth went to Eton College, but began his naval career in 1759 at the suggestion of Edward Boscawen, when he entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman on HMS Namur.Namur later became part of the fleet under Sir Edward Hawke, and Duckworth was present at the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759. On 5 April 1764 he joined the 50-gun HMS Guernsey at Chatham, after leaving HMS Prince of Orange, to serve with Admiral Hugh Palliser, then Governor of Newfoundland. He served aboard HMS Princess Royal, on which he suffered a concussion when he was hit by the head of another sailor, decapitated by a cannonball. He spent some months as an acting lieutenant, and was confirmed in the rank on 14 November 1771. He then spent three years aboard the 74-gun HMS Kent, the Plymouth guardship, under Captain Charles Fielding. Fielding was given command of the frigate HMS Diamond in early 1776, and he took Duckworth with him as his first lieutenant. Duckworth married Anne Wallis in July 1776, with whom he had a son and a daughter.